Over spring break (Previously named: So tell me)
by FFabeonG
Summary: While unpacking boxes of junk in Lilly's room, Donald comes across several humorous photos. A combination of pictures, phones and annoying nicknames leads to a conversation about families and dreams for life... plus when Donald invites Lilly over for spring break, he realises that some secrets can't be kept...but some most definitely can. DONILLY! (sorry I suck at summaries...)
1. Chapter 1: Just one midday

"Hey Lilly!" Donald lifted a small Polaroid picture from the box lying on her bed and was grinning at it. It was two weeks before spring break, and Lilly was sorting through the boxes under her bed and in her wardrobe, boxes full of random stuff she had never bothered to actually unpack since the beginning of the year. Donald himself was bored, as there were no Treble rehearsals for three days due to Koli and Greg both being ill, and he had decided to take advantage of Lilly's roommate being absent.

"What?" Lilly murmured as she emerged from the bathroom and her eyes fell on what was in Donald's hand. "That better not be..."

"It's adorable!" Donald grinned as he turned the picture around so she could see. Seven-year-old Lilly dressed up as a poisonous caterpillar, complete with face paint and everything, really was adorable.

"It's embarrassing!" Lilly bounded over and snatched it from him.

"Since when did you get embarrassed about stuff like that?" Donald raised his eyebrows.

"I went to school like that." Lilly just looked at him.

"I'm impressed." Donald grinned, pulling the box closer and sifting through a few more things.

"I used to keep a colony of caterpillars in a box." Lilly stared at the photograph, then saw the one that Donald had just pulled out. "No! Not that one!" Donald leapt up from the bed before she could snatch it away.

"But it's cute!" he protested.

"It's me with my hair covered in bees, Donny!"

"Don't call me Donny!"

"_Donny_, then give the picture back!"

Sighing in defeat, Donald slowly handed the picture to Lilly, his smirk still decorating his face.

"We should have looked through this box earlier in the year, Lils." He grinned, moving back as Lilly pulled out some old CDs and sorted through them.

"I was doing fine without you." Lilly grumbled in a voice that would be inaudible to anyone else.

"But you're doing even better with me!" Donald grinned.

"Liar."

"You know it's true."

"I will burn your hair gel."

Donald hastily shut up, silenced by that threat, but when Lilly glanced up she could see he was biting back a grin. Rolling her eyes, she picked up another pile of Polaroid pictures and sorted through them. Pausing at one of them, a smile flittered across her face. "If you're so interested, Donny, come and look at this one."

Donald raised his eyebrows at the despised nickname, but came over and looked over Lilly's shoulder.

"Don't tell me; that's you." He grinned, pointing to the girl hanging upside down from the tree branch while the other boy and girl smiled at the camera like little angels.

"How did you know?" Lilly giggled quietly.

"Cause I know you, Silly Lilly." Donald retorted. "Who're the others?"

"That's my brother, Billy." Lilly pointed to the boy. "And that's our cousin Layla. Our other cousin- Layla's sister- is the one taking the picture."

"Billy and Lilly. I like it." Donald chuckled and Lilly roled her eyes.

"Mom thought it would be funny." She shrugged. "He's William, but we've always called him Billy."

"Older than you?" Donald glanced at the two siblings in the picture, matching up the similar features between them.

"By one year, but he's a head taller than me. He used to pour syrup onto roses in the garden to help them grow."

Donald looked at her, trying to figure out if she was being serious, which was always hard to tell at the best of times.

"Maple or golden syrup?" he asked instead. Lilly paused for a moment or two.

"I _think_ it was maple." She frowned, and sat down on her bed, leaning against the wall and reaching for her phone. "I'll text him to make sure."

Donald picked up the box of clutter and moved it onto the floor before reclining next to Lilly and flipping through the rest of the photos, chuckling from time to time at how Lilly's eccentric nature had certainly not been a recent thing. Suddenly, Lilly poked his cheek, and he glanced at her.

"Yeah?" he knew full well that that poke was her way of saying 'oi, look at me.'

"You never mention _your_ family, Donny." She pondered.

"Well for a start, none of them call me that!" Donald groaned.

"How could they not?!" Lilly's wide eyes widened even more.

"Cause we all hate nicknames!" Donald chuckled. He pulled his own phone out of his pocket and flipped to the pictures. After scrolling through a few, he stopped, flipped the phone round and showed Lilly the selfie of four boys all with brown eyes and curly brown hair.

"He's wearing your Treblemaker jacket!" Lilly pointed to the youngest boy who was grinning next to Donald in the picture.

"He loves it!" Donald grinned. "That's my younger brother David, then the other two are Michael and Daniel."

"Older?" Lilly looked from one boy's face to the other, noting that they were twins, albeit non-identical.

"Older than me by three years; David is two years younger." Donald replied as Lilly took the phone and scrutinised his brothers' faces.

"You're the odd one out, like a cygnet in a duck's nest." She commented. She was right, not only was Donald the only one with glasses, but his relaxed and colourful style of clothes was also a pole apart from his smarter brothers.

"Hmmm that's an understatement." Donald shrugged "Michael works for the news, Daniel's a high school teacher, David wants to be a doctor, and then there's me." Lilly leant her head back as she thought.

"I want to use music in therapy, use music to help people." She murmured thoughtfully. Suddenly she sat up, a flush colouring her cheeks. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. She had never actually admitted her ambitions to anyone. But Donald just tilted his head and smiled.

"That's adorable."

Lilly didn't say anything, but gave him a weary glance from under her eyelashes.

"What's up?" Donald was confused at her sudden silence.

"You...don't think that that's...odd?"

"Why would I? You want to use music to help people; Lils, that's an amazing thing to do!" Donald was still bewildered. Lilly gave a half shrug.

"Well...my parents want me to go into medicine, and even Billy said it was weird." She admitted.

"He's wrong, you know. It's not weird at all. And the parents thing? Snap." Donald chuckled. Lilly looked at him properly and asked,

"What, your parents want you to study medicine as well?"

"They don't approve of what I want to do! They hold me up against my brothers and say I should follow their example, but I don't want to!" Donald had begun to pull on the corner of his jacket, a sign that Lilly knew meant he was bordering on angry.

"Following your brothers won't make you who you really are." Lilly watched his hands fidget. "What do you want to do, anyway?" Donald paused for a moment or two before springing to his feet with a frustrated sound and pacing back and forth as it came spilling out.

"Lilly, I want to make music!" he exclaimed "I want to go on beatboxing and rapping and sing and making music, but as well as that, I...I want to teach it! I want to go to- to _elementary _schools, maybe even kindergarten, and show kids how to love music; show them it's not just something that goes in one ear and out the other, but something to love and learn!" he broke off and looked back over at Lilly, his familiar grin replacing his sudden sincerness. "I sound like a complete nerd, don't I?" he laughed.

"I think you sound like the starving woodpecker in a rose bush." Lilly murmured.

"What does that mean?" Normally Donald didn't question her strange expressions, but this time he was curious.

"Amazingly and wonderfully honest." Lilly replied. Then she nearly smiled. "I think you'd be a good teacher, Donny."

"Lilly! Don't call me-"

Donald was interrupted as the door swung open and Maisie, Lilly's roommate, bustled in, finishing a call.

"Hey Lilly!" she beamed "I got take-aways if you want some!" she did a slight double take at seeing Donald, who shot her a charming smile before turnig back to Lilly.

"I'll see you sometime tomorrow." He grinned before vanishing out of the door.

"Um, Lilly..." Maisie was looking around "Why are there pictures all over the floor."

"Long story." Lilly giggled, but the other girl didn't hear her. Suddenly looking at her phone again, Lilly checked her messages and sent a quick text to Donald consisting of four words.

_It was maple syrup._


	2. Chapter 2: That late afternoon

_Knockknockknockknock! _The sharp rapping on the door made Lilly's roommate break off from her lengthy phone conversation and glare at the door before glancing at Lilly, who shrugged and got up off her bed to open the door. Doing so, she found herself face to face (well, ish) with Donald, who was wearing his usual mismatch of clothes and the classic smirk.

"Sup, Lils." He grinned. She rolled her eyes, but Donald saw the twitch of her mouth that hid a smile.

"What do you want, Treblemaker?" she asked, her voice as quiet as ever.

"Company and conversation too much to ask for?" Donald leant on the doorframe. "Bumper's gone already, Jesse's hiding away in his room, Unicycle's being a jerk, Kolio-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it." Lilly sighed and let him in, shutting the door behind him and joining him as he flopped down on her bed and picked up the book she had been flipping through.

"Fascinating stuff here." He said.

"Liar. You never read if you can avoid it."

"Dammit, you know me too well!"

"You're easier to read than a five-year-old's murder story." Lilly plucked the book from his hands and went to put it on her bookcase.

"So? You not packing for spring break then?" Donald looked around.

"Well I _was_ going to go home, but instead Billy's taking Mom and Dad to the coast for the week and there's not enough room for me as well, he says." Lilly came back over. "I'm just staying here; Becca is as well though, so I won't be lonely. Are you going back to your parents?"

Donald winced. "Oh no. I'm staying with Daniel, he's got a spare room and the week off, plus David or Michael might be able to drop by."

"You won't see your parents at all?"

"Well they'll probably come to visit, if Dad's not working on one day or something, but I guarantee it'll turn into a lecture of 'why-aren't-you-your-brothers?'" Donald suddenly sat up slightly.

"What?" Lilly asked. Donald grinned as she sat down again next to him.

"How would you like to come over during the week?" he asked. "It's not far from my old beatboxing group, and you're getting so good I bet you could compete with some of the really good guys!"

"Would your brother agree to that?" Lilly asked, interested.

"Sure! He's got two spare rooms if you wanted to stay the night. The beatboxing group's in the evening, so that might be useful."

"I'd love to." Lilly nodded. "As long as your brother's completely ok with it."

"Daniel doesn't mind!" Donald chuckled "He's cool with my music and everything, doesn't even complain when I've got my music blasting and I'm practicing beatboxing!"

"Either that or he's got a really good pair of headphones." Lilly raised her eyebrows, then suddenly tilted her head slightly and added. "And have you ever seen a dog rip a china doll's head off?"

"Uh...not yet!" was the best answer Donald could come up with. Lilly beamed.

"I'd love to visit you over break."

_S'up Lils! Hope you're all packed- borrowed the bro's car and I'll be there in 30 ;)_

Lilly picked up her phone and chuckled slightly at the text glowing on her screen. Shutting down her laptop, she slid it into her small sticker-covered suitcase and re-locked it before curling up with a book and beatboxing to herself until her phone buzzed yet again. Glancing at it, Lilly got to her feet, placed her bookmark in its place, grabbed her suitcase and lugged it down the stairs, heading outside to where Donald was waiting leant against his brother's car.

"Hey Silly Lilly." He grinned, but her eyes were on the car.

"No way." She stared "Your brother drives a 67 chevy Impala?!"

"Impressed, are you?" Donald chuckled, tossing and catching the keys before unlocking the boot and lifting Lilly's case in. "Daniel barely ever lets me borrow it, but he was feeling nice. I've never understood it, but he says it's a reference to his old favourite TV show."

Lilly's grin widened. "True deals can only be made at crossroads." She whispered and Donald laughed.

"Good to see you're happy!"

Lilly climbed in the passenger seat while Donald swung into the driver's seat and started the ignition.

"So how's your holiday so far? Seen your parents?" she asked as they joined the main road.

"We had a video call with them; Dad's working abroad." Donald shrugged "They were alright, Mum complained about my earrings as usual, but I got to say hi to David, so that was good."

"And we can still go to the group tonight?"

"Oh definitely! People just flit in and out of the group, so you don't need to introduce yourself or anything, we kinda just beatbox-battle as much as we can and try not to bring the police on our heads!"

"How many times has that happened?!" Lilly giggled and Donald chuckled as well. He found her laugh so contagious.

"Not many..."

_*le-FFabeonG time-skippy-thing*_

"Daniel!" Donald yelled as they entered the large house and he shut the door. "I didn't crash your car!"

"That's good for you, then!" Daniel emerged from the kitchen, in plain trousers and a smart shirt, coming to get the keys from his brother. "You must be Lilly." He grinned, offering her his hand. Lilly noted that the two brothers did look alike, there was the same brown eyes and charming smile, as well as the above average height. "Good to see my brother can be trusted behind the wheel with a girl."

"I tried to kill a clown when I was five." Lilly whispered as she shook Daniel's hand politely.

"Oh I hate clowns! I think you did the world a favour there!" he grinned. "If you just go up these stairs, your room's the first on the left if you want to dump your stuff."

"I will, thanks." Lilly climbed the stairs leaving the two brothers below. Donald heard his brother chuckle, and turned to him.

"What?" he asked.

Daniel raised his eyebrows. "Just a friend, Donald?"

"Shut up!"

"Please, you've never looked at a girl like that before."

"What the hell are you on about, _Danny_?"

"When I was talking to her, your face said it all, _Donny_!"

Donald groaned, bringing a hand to his face. "Just...don't tell her."

"Sure thing, kiddo." Daniel ruffled his younger brother's hair and returned to the kitchen. "Stuff's in the fridge when you want it!"

Unknown to the two boys, Lilly was paused at the top of the stairs, listening with a tiny smile on her face. She hadn't dared to hope that the Treblemaker beatboxer actually returned the feelings she had kept secret ever since they met, but if he did...

Shaking her head, Lilly descended the stairs and Donald grinned cheerfully.

"I'd say we've got about an hour till the group's on." He grinned. "There's snacks in the fridge if you want?"

"Sure." Lilly shrugged. The two went into the kitchen, and Donald opened the silver fridge, only to stop and roll his eyes.

"Daniel!" he yelled, pulling out an innocent-looking silver foil box.

"What?" came the reply. Daniel appeared from a room on the left and Lilly didn't miss the slight mischievous sparkle in his eye when he saw what his brother was holding. It was the exact same look Donald got when he was playing a trick on someone. Donald held the box up.

"Do you think I am a ******* idiot?" he asked.

"I don't know what you mean." Daniel shrugged.

"What is it?" Lilly asked, interested now. Donald slowly handed her the box.

"Open it if you want." He offered. Lilly narrowed her eyes first at him, then at his brother before pulling back the lid. The massive spider leapt out onto her hand, and Lilly's face broke into a wide smile.

"Look at how sweet it is!" she giggled, setting the box down and cupping the critter.

"Donald at seven years old didn't quite think that, you know!" Daniel laughed.

"Yeah, but you didn't do it again for a whole year after that, did you?" Donald smirked. Daniel's smile vanished.

"You put Tabasco sauce in my apple crumble!" he groaned.

"And you, Lils, thought that pouring maple syrup on roses was normal, this was how I grew up!" Donald spun back round with his arms out as if he had just finished a performance. Lilly just tilted her head and looked up at his head.

"How long would it take this spider to make a web in your hair?" she murmured, then her gaze shifted to Daniel's equally curly hair.

"And I'm out!" the elder brother backed away. "I'm driving you tonight, Donald, you're not having my car from 7 till 10 pm."

"You don't trust me!"

"I wonder why!?"

* * *

_AN: So yeah, I originally meant for this to be a two-chapter story, but then Mr Spider entered, and I realised it's gonna be three chapters if I don't wanna bore you guys :) Third chapter up A LOT SOONER THAN THIS ONE I'M SORRY BLAME WRITER'S BLOCK!_


	3. Chapter 3: And at around midnight

The rest of that evening passed fairly uneventfully, until quarter to seven arrived, and Daniel finished work to drive the two to Donald's old beat-boxing group. Lilly felt slightly nervous as they pulled up to the building and Donald hopped out, his confidence practically oozing from his cheerful smile.

"Ok Lils?" he grinned, waving to Daniel as he drove off. Lilly nodded and Donald led the way up and up flights of stairs until they reached the roof, or at least what used to be the top floor, only the ceiling had vanished and the sky was above them, cloudy but rainless. "Not what you were expecting, huh?" Donald chuckled, noting Lilly's expression.

"Only pelicans expect what to expect." She replied. Donald raised his eyebrows, but didn't get to reply as another boy about his age came from the small group standing nearby and yelled,

"Hey, Ducky!"

"Hey Jamie." Donald grinned, slapping hands with him. "How's the group been?"

"Not the same, man, we've missed you!" Jamie patted Donald on the back, then noticed Lilly. "Hey, who's this?"

"This is my friend, Lilly." Donald replied. "She's already pretty skilled and I reckon she could easily take on Billy or someone that level."

"Sweet." Jamie nodded. Lilly looked at him and murmured.

"It's really easy to hide cyanide in sherbet lemons."

"Uuuhhh..." Jamie looked a little freaked, and glanced at Donald, who raised his eyebrows as if daring the other boy to say anything. "Um, ok." Jamie attempted, then glanced at his watch. "Looks like we're starting then- sorry, got to dash, promised Seb I'd go doubles with him on the twins."

When he had returned to the group, who had formed two lines, Donald turned back to Lilly.

"What?" he asked, noticing she seemed to be biting back laughter. Lilly couldn't help it, and burst into rare giggles. Donald was absorbed by the sound of her laugh, but was also confused. "What's funny?"

"Ducky?!" Lilly laughed. "Really, Donald? Ducky?"

"Oh please no!" Donald covered his face with his hand. "That was middle school! Jamie just still calls me that sometimes!"

"Ducky, though..."

"Don't call me that at Barden."

"...fine."

Time passed, and at first Lilly just watched, noting how many people knew and welcomed Donald, often using the nickname "Ducky.". They were very different people to the Trebles and the Bellas, there was none of that pretentious 'I have to be the best' rubbish, and Lilly saw several times where a less experienced beat boxer was cheered on and then applauded when they finally admitted defeat. Her confidence growing, Lilly joined one of the lines and found herself getting right into it, experimenting with new beats and ideas she hadn't thought of before. And every time she stood down, picking up on the custom to nod a well-done to her opponent, Donald was always there, smiling like she had achieved an Olympic gold.

"You're doing brilliantly, Lil!" he laughed at one point, and Lilly felt her face heating up at his praise. Donald himself was in his element, and Lilly found herself mesmerised by the way he moved when he was freely beatboxing like that. It was like he wasn't performing in the way most people saw him beatbox, and she couldn't help finding the mix of concentration and enjoyment on his face somewhat attractive. Well, everyone had their own tastes, didn't they? And if Donald's 'taste' happened to be her...Lilly shook her head to clear it. She would dwell on that later, she told herself, and joined the queue again for another round, when suddenly her phone pinged and buzzed in her pocket. Glancing down at the screen, Lilly saw that the text was from Aubrey.

"_Great news, acca-bitches! Bellas advance to finals, footnotes disqualified! Rehersals start Monday 8am sharp!"_

Delighted, Lilly jumped on the spot. Yes, Aubrey was probably going to be a horror, but Lilly was on a cloud nine at that moment and just kept her elation as she stepped up to a new opponent.

*****_le-FFabeonG-time-skip-:D_************

Daniel picked them up at ten, like he'd promised, but even though it was half eleven by the time they got back and Daniel headed straight for bed, Lilly had to admit she wasn't tired.

"Donallllllld..." she whined cheekily when he yawned. "I'm not sleepy, I'm bored!"

"Bored? That didn't take long." Donald chuckled. "Tell you what, let's look through Daniel's movie collection. He actually has some decent stuff."

Lilly's grin widened and she watched as Donald crouched by the TV and pulled out a basket from underneath it, full of DVDs. Sitting beside him, the two looked through the films, when suddenly Lilly's eyes brightened.

"Donny, look at this!"

Donald completely ignored her. Lilly rolled her eyes. "_Donald_, look!"

"What is it?" Donald looked up with a slight smirk.

"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind!" Lilly beamed, hugging the DVD case to her chest. "It's my favourite movie!"

"Really? I didn't know that..." Donald looked at it, slightly confused.

"Don't tell me you haven't seen it..."

"Well..."

"We're watching this one, or the moon will collapse like origami in a lake." Lilly thrust the DVD into Donald's hands and he chuckled before setting it all up and then joining Lilly on the couch.

The movie was great, as always, but Lilly couldn't help getting distracted by Donald, by the way his forehead creased when there was something he didn't get, the sparkle in his eyes at the happy bits, and the casual way he sat, with those georgeous curls falling over his forehead. Wait, _georgeous_? Well, she had to admit...

Swallowing slightly, Lilly decided to throw caution to the wind and take a chance. "Donald?"

"Yeah?" Donald looked over at her. Lilly adopted her most serious face and quietest voice as she whispered,

"Can...can you keep secrets?"

Donald was a little bit confused, but Lilly's eyes demanded a reply. "Yeah, unless they, like, _really _need to be told."

Lilly tilted her head slightly and let her eyes flit to Donald's lips before screwing up her courage and leaning forward to kiss him. At first Donald was stunned, and Lilly felt a mix of panic and triumph that she had surprised someone like him. Then Lilly heard Donald chuckle lowly, before his arms crept around her waist and pulled her across his lap so she was straddling him and kissing her back with something like...relief. Lilly wound her arms around his neck, allowing him to lead the kiss and guiltily enjoying the way one hand was around her waist, keeping her close, while the other tangled in her hair. Normally she hated her hair being messy, but in these circumstances, that had to be excused.

The need for oxygen eventually overtook them, and the two parted, Lilly leaning her forehead against his and stared at him as they caught their breath. She had iniciated the kiss, but now it was really his move. A few moments passed before a wide smile crossed Donald's face.

"Yeah." He grinned "I can _definitely _keep this secret, Lils."

"You'd better, or the pelican that eats the chocolate the night after Easter will get you."

"How the hell are you so damn adorable?!"

Unable to answer verbally, Lilly found that kissing Donald again was probably the best way to shut him up.

* * *

_A/N: *hides behind sofa* Ok, there is really no excuse for how long this took...writer's block was killing me, then I was away at music camp, but ANYWAY, the important thing is, here it is :)_


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